RCCL just announced a new policy - basically ALL Canadians will be considered unvaccinated even after 2 shots!!!!

[Magicat]

2 hours ago, stoof said:

We are booked out of Barcelona on a T/A to Orlando. So many things to consider now.
We are both a mix of Pfizer and AstraZeneca. According to the website, because we are departing Barcelona, our shot dates fall in line with RCCL's guidelines (rules).
The second hurdle is the current restriction on entering the US from the Schengen region, which includes Spain. They have to lift that.
Planning is so much more complicated but I really hope it is worth it. We miss travelling.

 

I have a feeling that the US will remove the restriction on the Schengen region before they remove the one with Canada.

[broberts]

26 minutes ago, Magicat said:

I have a feeling that the US will remove the restriction on the Schengen region before they remove the one with Canada.

 

Doubtful. We are the largest trade partner and provide the most tourist $.

[Russ Lomas]

I just posted a final post on this issue in the main RCCL thread.  Yesterday, I received a letter directly from the CEO's executive office addressed to me stating that my entire family is considered fully vaccinated and cleared to sail.  We all have 2 doses of the same mRNA vaccine after the 42-day time frame that was being questioned.  Another poster received the exact same letter and has posted it in a couple of the RCCL threads in case anyone is nervous and wants to take a copy with them in case they are questioned when boarding the ship.  I hope finally getting a response from the top of the organization puts people's minds at rest about their vaccination status.

 

It was unfortunate that the policy was stated on the RCCL website in such a manner that many of its supervisors misread it causing vast confusion.  Hopefully, the wording of policies posted on the website will be vetted a little more closely to determine if the wording can be interpreted in different ways.  

[Fouremco]

2 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

I just posted a final post on this issue in the main RCCL thread.  Yesterday, I received a letter directly from the CEO's executive office addressed to me stating that my entire family is considered fully vaccinated and cleared to sail.  We all have 2 doses of the same mRNA vaccine after the 42-day time frame that was being questioned.  Another poster received the exact same letter and has posted it in a couple of the RCCL threads in case anyone is nervous and wants to take a copy with them in case they are questioned when boarding the ship.  I hope finally getting a response from the top of the organization puts people's minds at rest about their vaccination status.

 

It was unfortunate that the policy was stated on the RCCL website in such a manner that many of its supervisors misread it causing vast confusion.  Hopefully, the wording of policies posted on the website will be vetted a little more closely to determine if the wording can be interpreted in different ways.  

👍👍👍

[DavidToronto]

On 7/24/2021 at 4:18 PM, iancal said:

NP. RCI is not the only game in town.

 

It is their cruise line, they make the rules. We can vote with our feet and with  our wallets.

 

Sadly, I've just done so.  Moved my next 2 Royal cruises to HAL.  3 more booked after that, will give it a week or two before moving those.

[iancal]

I believe that covid if far, far from over.  Nor do we know how it will mutate and where it will go.   

 

Hard to predict what cruises will be operating, what countries will be open to visitors.   

 

Six weeks ago we felt confident that could spend the month of Oct in the Greek Islands. Not so certain now.   Same for Mexico in early December.

 

One thing for certain.  We will not be booking any air until a week or so prior our estimated departure date.  To many moving pieces.  We do not want to be stuck with a credit or have it take months to get a refund on a cancelled travel arrangements.

Edited August 1, 2021 by iancal

[MaddyandMax]

Royal has changed their mind again.  Apparently the CDC once again says no more mixed doses... I'm so over this. 

 

If anyone outside of Quebec has gone there and gotten a 3rd shot please let me know.  Lovely Ford here in Ontario won't do it.

[broberts]

29 minutes ago, MaddyandMax said:

Royal has changed their mind again.  Apparently the CDC once again says no more mixed doses... I'm so over this. 

 

If anyone outside of Quebec has gone there and gotten a 3rd shot please let me know.  Lovely Ford here in Ontario won't do it.

 

Don't you think it makes more sense to use the doses to get everyone fully vaccinated first?

[MaddyandMax]

14 minutes ago, broberts said:

 

Don't you think it makes more sense to use the doses to get everyone fully vaccinated first?

I’m not upset I’m mixed vaccinated. Canada did the right thing. I’m annoyed the government isn’t doing more. We opened our borders without making sure they can be opened both ways. 

[K_e_short]

1 hour ago, MaddyandMax said:

Royal has changed their mind again.  Apparently the CDC once again says no more mixed doses... I'm so over this. 

 

If anyone outside of Quebec has gone there and gotten a 3rd shot please let me know.  Lovely Ford here in Ontario won't do it.

 I'm in Ottawa, closer to Quebec and I agree.

 

I do agree that we need to make sure that vaccinations are distributed evenly throughout the world.

 

I do have a problem using that as an excuse for being treated unfairly.

[ilovetotravel1977]

So based on their website's policy, my two Pfizers which I received 50 days a part, are okay for US-based cruises:

 

(no mention of the days in between shots)

 

Royal Caribbean accepts vaccines that are fully approved or authorized for emergency use by the U.S. FDA or the World Health Organization. All doses of your vaccine should be from the same manufacturer and of the same type (e.g. mRNA), in the required number of doses to be considered fully administered (e.g. 2 shots of Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, etc., or 1 shot of Johnson & Johnson). A guest is considered fully vaccinated 14 days after their vaccine series is completed.

 

For Cruises Departing from Ports Outside of the U.S. 

For cruises departing from ports outside of the U.S., we will accept guests who are vaccinated with a mixed regimen consisting of 2 shots of the following manufacturer combinations: Pfizer and Moderna, or AstraZeneca with either Pfizer or Moderna. The doses must be separated by at least 28 days and not more than 42 days for mixes of Pfizer and Moderna, and separated by at least 4 weeks and not more than 12 weeks for combinations of AstraZeneca with Pfizer or Moderna.

 

 

[broberts]

4 hours ago, MaddyandMax said:

I’m not upset I’m mixed vaccinated. Canada did the right thing. I’m annoyed the government isn’t doing more. We opened our borders without making sure they can be opened both ways. 

 

We need the business and conditions in the US are significantly different. Think through the options, would it be better if we eschewed US tourist income because the US was unwilling to open its borders?

[Fouremco]

16 hours ago, broberts said:

 

Don't you think it makes more sense to use the doses to get everyone fully vaccinated first?

Vaccine availability is no longer an issue. There's sufficient to jab those who haven't bothered to do so yet, as well as give a third jab to those requiring one for travel. There's concern now that a lot of our existing Moderna supplies will expire before they are used, so unvaccinated people can get a double dose of a universally approved vaccine if they want.

[broberts]

1 minute ago, Fouremco said:

Vaccine availability is no longer an issue. There's sufficient to jab those who haven't bothered to do so yet, as well as give a third jab to those requiring one for travel. There's concern now that a lot of our existing Moderna supplies will expire before they are used, so unvaccinated people can get a double dose of a universally approved vaccine if they want.

 

Or we can send the excess to those in need of vaccines for initial and second shots. This is a global problem. Until the world is vaccinated we remain at risk.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

5 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Vaccine availability is no longer an issue. There's sufficient to jab those who haven't bothered to do so yet, as well as give a third jab to those requiring one for travel. There's concern now that a lot of our existing Moderna supplies will expire before they are used, so unvaccinated people can get a double dose of a universally approved vaccine if they want.

Who going to pay to get the third shot ? 
at about $35 CAD for Moderna FROM THE FACTORY  add in shipping , than giving the shot than the paperwork , a shot probably cost $100 CAD 

in a month or two , everyone will forget than there was a problem with mixing vaccines 

[DirtyDawg]

21 minutes ago, Airbalancer said:

Who going to pay to get the third shot ? 
at about $35 CAD for Moderna FROM THE FACTORY  add in shipping , than giving the shot than the paperwork , a shot probably cost $100 CAD 

in a month or two , everyone will forget than there was a problem with mixing vaccines 

This is Canada, if you need a third shot to cruise our grandkids will pay for the shot.

OK, our bondholders will be paying for those third shots today but our grandkids will be the ones paying off our bondholders.  😉

 

Edited August 3, 2021 by DirtyDawg

[Fouremco]

35 minutes ago, Airbalancer said:

Who going to pay to get the third shot ? 
at about $35 CAD for Moderna FROM THE FACTORY  add in shipping , than giving the shot than the paperwork , a shot probably cost $100 CAD 

in a month or two , everyone will forget than there was a problem with mixing vaccines 

I suspect that you are right, the mixing issue will be resolved, although a month or two might be a tad optimistic.

[Travelexpert35]

With all the mixed messaging happening from the cruise lines, I’m in no rush to cruise. I have two doses of Pfizer but I want to wait until everything settles down and no testing is required to get back into Canada. Possibly we’ll look at late 2022 or early 2023 to cruise again. 

[jojal]

2 hours ago, Travelexpert35 said:

With all the mixed messaging happening from the cruise lines, I’m in no rush to cruise. I have two doses of Pfizer but I want to wait until everything settles down and no testing is required to get back into Canada. Possibly we’ll look at late 2022 or early 2023 to cruise again. 

My sentiments, exactly.  This is why we are waiting to cruise in 2023.  We were just hoping to replace our winter cruises this year with a trip down to the US, but we need them to accept our 2 Pfizer doses more than 42 days apart.

[K_e_short]

36 minutes ago, jojal said:

My sentiments, exactly.  This is why we are waiting to cruise in 2023.  We were just hoping to replace our winter cruises this year with a trip down to the US, but we need them to accept our 2 Pfizer doses more than 42 days apart.

 

If you are flying to the U.S. you don't need to be vaccinated. I didn't catch if you are planning on driving, in which case yes you'd have to wait to see what they say about land borders.

 

Canadians still have to test on the way home even though we are vaccinated so I wonder if you'd still have to test to get into the U.S. even if you are vaccinated (according to whoever :). 

 

And the test to get into the U.S. is the cheapest ($40) and easiest to get.

[archer_310]

On 8/2/2021 at 5:58 PM, MaddyandMax said:

Royal has changed their mind again.  Apparently the CDC once again says no more mixed doses... I'm so over this. 

 

If anyone outside of Quebec has gone there and gotten a 3rd shot please let me know.  Lovely Ford here in Ontario won't do it.

 

I called Quebec and asked if I could get a 3rd shot.  They told me you had to live or work in Quebec to get it for travel.  RC just changed the rules again and now I can't sail even if considered unvaccinated.  I'd love to get a 3rd shot and need to by this Sunday, otherwise I have to cancel a cruise AGAIN.  If anyone knows how to get the 3rd shot, please let me know!

[brontravel]

On 8/2/2021 at 6:28 PM, broberts said:

 

Don't you think it makes more sense to use the doses to get everyone fully vaccinated first?

We are literally throwing away doses right now because they have expired. Millions of doses coming in and no one getting in line for them. 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

5 minutes ago, brontravel said:

We are literally throwing away doses right now because they have expired. Millions of doses coming in and no one getting in line for them. 

If frozen they are good for 6 months , 

[jojal]

33 minutes ago, K_e_short said:

 

If you are flying to the U.S. you don't need to be vaccinated. I didn't catch if you are planning on driving, in which case yes you'd have to wait to see what they say about land borders.

 

Canadians still have to test on the way home even though we are vaccinated so I wonder if you'd still have to test to get into the U.S. even if you are vaccinated (according to whoever :). 

 

And the test to get into the U.S. is the cheapest ($40) and easiest to get.

We considered driving down to a warmer (than our winter here) southern States.  We'd have a car for touring around, and we wouldn't have to be in the airports and on planes, which, frankly, make me nervous, even though we're vaccinated.  And yes, I think we'd have to be tested to get into the US.  But, the more I read and watch the news and hear about the huge surges in the extremely transmissible Delta variant in the US, the less appealing or realistic this idea is. 

[K_e_short]

17 minutes ago, jojal said:

We considered driving down to a warmer (than our winter here) southern States.  We'd have a car for touring around, and we wouldn't have to be in the airports and on planes, which, frankly, make me nervous, even though we're vaccinated.  And yes, I think we'd have to be tested to get into the US.  But, the more I read and watch the news and hear about the huge surges in the extremely transmissible Delta variant in the US, the less appealing or realistic this idea is. 

 

We have an all inclusive booked for March Break.

They will test us before we fly home, for FREE.

The resort is not at capacity and most all inclusives are outside anyways.